January 2012

SEA CEPTOR Missile System to Go Ahead - A £483m contract to develop this air defence system - known as SEA CEPTOR has been awarded to UK industry, built around the missile which is capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 3 and will have the ability to deal with multiple targets simultaneously, protecting an area of around 500 square miles (1,300 square kilometres) over land or sea.     SEA CEPTOR will be developed under a demonstration contract with MBDA (UK) that is expected to last for five years and the work will be spread over locations such as Stevenage, Filton and Lostock.       SEA CEPTOR has been designed for initial use on the Type 23 Frigate to replace the SEA WOLF air defence system when it goes out of service in 2016 and it is planned that it will be used on the Type 26 Global Combat Ship.    Its flexible design also means that it could in future be adapted for use by the Army and RAF.      MBDA was formed in December 2001 and is a multi-national group with over 10,000 employees in France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and the United States.    The three key shareholders are :

            BAE Systems (37.5%)·                EADS             (37.5%)·              Finmeccanica (25%)